”Image 1628-2: The M 70-5 is the world’s largest series-produced truck-mounted concrete pump that has been successfully tried and tested in practical use”

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーThe world's largest concrete pump, deployed at the construction site of the U.S. government's $4.86 billion mixed oxide fuel plant at Savannah River Site, is being moved to Japan in a series of emergency measures to help stabilize the Fukushima reactors.

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Back | NextAshmore Concrete Contractors', Putzmeister 70Z concrete boom pump. The world's largest concrete pump, deployed at the construction site of the U.S. government's $4.86 billion mixed oxide fuel plant at Savannah River Site, is being moved to Japan in a series of emergency measures to help stabilize the Fukushima reactors. The 190,000-pound pump, made by Germany-based Putzmeister has a 70-meter boom and can be controlled remotely, making it suitable for use in the unpredictable and highly radioactive environment of the doomed.Photo supplied by Jerry Ashmore.Ashmore Concrete Contractors', Putzmeister 70Z concrete boom pump. The world's largest concrete pump, deployed at the construction site of the U.S. government's $4.86 billion mixed oxide fuel plant at Savannah River Site, is being moved to Japan in a series of emergency measures to help stabilize the Fukushima reactors. The 190,000-pound pump, made by Germany-based Putzmeister has a 70-meter boom and can be controlled remotely, making it suitable for use in the unpredictable and highly radioactive environment of the doomed.Photo supplied by Jerry Ashmore.Back | NextAshmore Concrete Contractors', Putzmeister 70Z concrete boom pump. The world's largest concrete pump, deployed at the construction site of the U.S. government's $4.86 billion mixed oxide fuel plant at Savannah River Site, is being moved to Japan in a series of emergency measures to help stabilize the Fukushima reactors. The 190,000-pound pump, made by Germany-based Putzmeister has a 70-meter boom and can be controlled remotely, making it suitable for use in the unpredictable and highly radioactive environment of the doomed.Photo supplied by Jerry Ashmore.Ashmore Concrete Contractors', Putzmeister 70Z concrete boom pump. The world's largest concrete pump, deployed at the construction site of the U.S. government's $4.86 billion mixed oxide fuel plant at Savannah River Site, is being moved to Japan in a series of emergency measures to help stabilize the Fukushima reactors. The 190,000-pound pump, made by Germany-based Putzmeister has a 70-meter boom and can be controlled remotely, making it suitable for use in the unpredictable and highly radioactive environment of the doomed.Photo supplied by Jerry Ashmore.Back | NextPhotoJerry Ashmore, Jr. walks past a 52-meter crane housed in the lot March 31, 2011 at Ashmore Concrete in Augusta, Ga. According to Ashmore, the company is currently getting their only 70-meter concrete cranes from the United States to help with relief efforts in Japan. Once there, the goal is to fill the nuclear reactor damaged by the recent earthquake. The 190,000 pound crane will be flown in the largest operating plane, Ukraine's Anatov 225. "My first thought was the Department of Energy would be ticked off I'm "stealing" their equipment, even though I'm the one that owns it," Ashmore said with a laugh. "But Japan needs it right now a whole lot more," he added seriously. The crane is one of three in existence from the U.S. Ashmore said. The crane showns is similar to the one that will be used overseas. Corey Perrine/StaffCorey Perrine/StaffPhotoJerry Ashmore, Jr. walks past a 52-meter crane housed in the lot March 31, 2011 at Ashmore Concrete in Augusta, Ga. According to Ashmore, the company is currently getting their only 70-meter concrete cranes from the United States to help with relief efforts in Japan. Once there, the goal is to fill the nuclear reactor damaged by the recent earthquake. The 190,000 pound crane will be flown in the largest operating plane, Ukraine's Anatov 225. "My first thought was the Department of Energy would be ticked off I'm "stealing" their equipment, even though I'm the one that owns it," Ashmore said with a laugh. "But Japan needs it right now a whole lot more," he added seriously. The crane is one of three in existence from the U.S. Ashmore said. The crane showns is similar to the one that will be used overseas.Back | NextPhotoJerry Ashmore, Jr. shows off the controls used to operate a 52-meter crane March 31, 2011 at Ashmore Concrete in Augusta, Ga. According to Ashmore, the company is currently getting their only 70-meter concrete cranes from the United States to help with relief efforts in Japan. Once there, the goal is to fill the nuclear reactor damaged by the recent earthquake. The 190,000 pound crane will be flown in the largest operating plane, Ukraine's Anatov 225. "My first thought was the Department of Energy would be ticked off I'm "stealing" their equipment, even though I'm the one that owns it," Ashmore said with a laugh. "But Japan needs it right now a whole lot more," he added seriously. The crane is one of three in existence from the U.S. Ashmore said. Corey Perrine/StaffCorey Perrine/StaffPhotoJerry Ashmore, Jr. shows off the controls used to operate a 52-meter crane March 31, 2011 at Ashmore Concrete in Augusta, Ga. According to Ashmore, the company is currently getting their only 70-meter concrete cranes from the United States to help with relief efforts in Japan. Once there, the goal is to fill the nuclear reactor damaged by the recent earthquake. The 190,000 pound crane will be flown in the largest operating plane, Ukraine's Anatov 225. "My first thought was the Department of Energy would be ticked off I'm "stealing" their equipment, even though I'm the one that owns it," Ashmore said with a laugh. "But Japan needs it right now a whole lot more," he added seriously. The crane is one of three in existence from the U.S. Ashmore said.Back | NextPhotoJerry Ashmore, Jr. shows off the hopper used to keep concrete agitated when poured on a 52-meter crane truck March 31, 2011 at Ashmore Concrete in Augusta, Ga. According to Ashmore, the company is currently getting their only 70-meter concrete cranes from the United States to help with relief efforts in Japan. Once there, the goal is to fill the nuclear reactor damaged by the recent earthquake. The 190,000 pound crane will be flown in the largest operating plane, Ukraine's Anatov 225. "My first thought was the Department of Energy would be ticked off I'm "stealing" their equipment, even though I'm the one that owns it," Ashmore said with a laugh. "But Japan needs it right now a whole lot more," he added seriously. The crane is one of three in existence from the U.S. Ashmore said. Corey Perrine/StaffCorey Perrine/StaffPhotoJerry Ashmore, Jr. shows off the hopper used to keep concrete agitated when poured on a 52-meter crane truck March 31, 2011 at Ashmore Concrete in Augusta, Ga. According to Ashmore, the company is currently getting their only 70-meter concrete cranes from the United States to help with relief efforts in Japan. Once there, the goal is to fill the nuclear reactor damaged by the recent earthquake. The 190,000 pound crane will be flown in the largest operating plane, Ukraine's Anatov 225. "My first thought was the Department of Energy would be ticked off I'm "stealing" their equipment, even though I'm the one that owns it," Ashmore said with a laugh. "But Japan needs it right now a whole lot more," he added seriously. The crane is one of three in existence from the U.S. Ashmore said.

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"The bottom line is, the Japanese need this particular unit worse than we do, so we're giving it up," said Jerry Ashmore, whose company, Augusta-based Ashmore Concrete Contractors, Inc., is the concrete supplier for the MOX facility.

The 190,000-pound pump, made by German-based Putzmeister has a 70-meter boom and can be controlled remotely, making it suitable for use in the unpredictable and highly radioactive environment of the doomed nuclear reactors in Japan, he said.

"There are only three of these pumps in the world, of which two are suited for this work, so we have to get it there as soon as we can," Ashmore said in an interview Thursday. "Time is very much a factor."

The pump was moved Wednesday from the construction site in Aiken County to a facility in Hanahan, S.C., for minor modifications, and will be trucked to Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, where it will be picked up by the world's largest cargo plane, the Russian-made Antonov 225, which will fly it to Tokyo.

The move to Atlanta, he added, will require expedited special permits from Georgia's Department of Transportation, because of the weight of the equipment. If all goes well, the pump will be en route to Japan next week.

According to Putzmeister's Web site, four smaller pumps made by the company are already at work at Fukushima pumping water onto the overheated reactors.

Initially, the pump from Savannah River Site, and another 70-meter Putzmeister now at a construction site in California, will be used to pump water -- and later will be used to move concrete.

"Our understanding is, they are preparing to go to next phase and it will require a lot of concrete," Ashmore said, noting that the 70-meter pump can move 210 cubic yards of concrete per hour.

Putzmeister equipment was also used in the 1980s, when massive amounts of concrete were used to entomb the melted core of the reactor at Chernobyl.

In addition to the equipment now at Fukushima and the two 70-meter pumps being moved from the U.S., a contractor in Vietnam has given up a 58-meter pump so it can be diverted to Japan, and two 62-meter pumps in Germany were loaded on Wednesday for transport to Tokyo.

Ashmore said officials have already notified Shaw AREVA MOX Services, which is building the MOX plant for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration, that the pump was being moved and will not be returned because it will become contaminated by radiation.

"It will be too hot to come back," Ashmore said.

The MOX complex, scheduled to open in 2016, is designed to dispose of 32 metric tons of plutonium from dismantled nuclear bombs by blending small amounts of the material with uranium to make nuclear fuel for commercial power reactors. Its design calls for 170,000 cubic yards of concrete strengthened with 35,000 tons of reinforcing steel bars.

The absence of the pump will not affect the U.S. project's construction schedule, Ashmore said, noting that there are several slightly smaller units still at the MOX site and being used by the civil contractor, Alberici Constructors.

There is also the third existing 70-meter Putzmeister that is in the U.S., but not in a state where it could easily be retrofitted for shipment to Japan.

Jerry Ashmore of Augusta-based Ashmore Concrete Contractors, Inc. says one the the world's largest concrete pumps is needed to help stabilize the Fukushima reactors in Japan. The 190,000-pound pump should be en route to Japan by next week.

. The 190,000-pound pump should be en route to Japan next week. \nCOREY PERRINE/STAFF

The pump has a 70-meter boom and can be controlled remotely, which will be beneficial in the unpredictable radioactive environment surrounding Japan's doomed nuclear reactors. \nCOREY PERRINE/STAFF

Jerry Ashmore shows off the hopper used to keep concrete agitated when poured onto a 52-meter crane truck. Ashmore says that the donated pump will not be returned from Japan because it will become contaminated by radiation. Its absence won't affect construction at the MOX facility at SRS, he says. \nSPECIAL

The concrete pump was moved from the construction site in Aiken County to Hanahan, S.C., on Wednesday. It will be trucked to Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and fly on the world's largest cargo plane to Tokyo.